The impact of social movements on securing the rights of indigenous peoples: a case of the Zapatista movement ; Socialinių judėjimų įtaka čiabuvių teisėms užtikrinti: Zapatista judėjimo atvejis

Abstract

The Zapatista movement is one of the most influential social movements in Latin America, which among other things raised the issue of the indigenous rights. The aim of the research is to analyse the impact of the Zapatista movement in the area of securing the rights of indigenous people within the Mexican political process. The dissertation takes the case study approach. Also comparative method, scientific literature analysis, document analysis, quantitative and qualitative media content analysis, and secondary data analysis is used in the research. The research shows that the process of recognizing the rights of indigenous peoples in Mexico was largely influenced by the demands of the Zapatista movement. Indigenous peoples appeared in the discourse of political elite, they were included into Mexico's national development plans and political party manifestos. It can be argued that since early 1990s the process of recognizing the rights of indigenous peoples in Mexico has had five dimensions: political recognition, policy agenda, policy response, implementation and institutionalization. Nevertheless, not every demand put forward by the Zapatista movement has been realized. The right to self-determination as well as the right to land and its resources still remain unresolved. It can be therefore stated that the Zapatista movement was very influential with regard to raising the issue of the rights of indigenous peoples, however not all of movement's demands were met.